Traveling case



April 8, 1941. E. N. KENNEDY 2237992 TRAVELING CASE Filed Nov. 18, 1938Patented Apr. 8, 1941 2,237,992 TRAVELING CASE Ernest Norbert Kennedy,London, England Application November 18, 1938, Serial No. 241,269

In Great Britain November 23, 1937 v 3 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to hand wardrobetrunks, suitcases, traveling cases and the like for containing foldedgarments, hereinafter referred to generally as cases, comprisingattachment'means for engagement by the hook of a garment hanger for usewith a garment to be folded, and garment-folding means comprising rconstituted by a garment-folding element adapted to be moved upwardsfrom a lower position behind a part of the garment situated outside thecase to an upper position in the case for folding the garment.

In cases heretofore intended for accommodating womens dresses, a hangerbar for carrying garment hangers which support garments folded intothree sections by means of crossbars has been secured to the top of thecase.

The present invention has for its main object to provide an` improvedconstruction of a case which shall facilitate folding garments, such asmens suits, into two without creasing them, and inserting the foldedgarments into the lid or body of the case which is neat in appearanceand conforms substantially with the appearance of luggage, e. g.suitcases, commonly in use at the present day.

According to the invention, a case of the type described has theattachment means provided in the lower part of the lid or body of thecase. This attachment means may be a hanger bar along which the hook ofa garment hanger can slide. This position of the hanger bar facilitatesgarments, such as mens suits, (coat, waistcoat and trousers) on garmenthangers hooked to the hanger bar, being folded into two and packed inthe case.

The hanger bar and/or supports for the crossbar or like element may bedetachably mounted in the lid or body of the case instead of being xedtherein.

Two supports for the crossbar or like element may be in the form ofrails, each spaced a short distance away from the top and adjacent sidewall of the lid or body of the case, and preferably extending in theform of a horizontal loop beyond the front edge of the top of the openlid or body, respectively.

The crossbar preferably has at its ends crooks arranged to be suspendedfrom said supports and formed with abutments to limit endwise movementthereon, the middle portion of the crossbar preferably being crankeddownwards.

The hanger bar preferably has the shape of a U having a longer limbsituated alongside or vertically above a shorter limb, and the closedend of the U situated outside the front edge of the bottom of the lid orbody of the case, for the purpose later described herein.

It is to be observed that the crossbar or other garment folding element,when supported in the upper part of the case, and the hanger bar orother attachment means are attached or Kadjacent to relatively oppositewalls of the case.

A carrying handle may be provided attached to the outside of thatrelatively parallel wall of the case to which the crossbar or othergarment folding element is adjacent when in its upper position.

Insome cases a hanger bar may be provided in the upper portion of thelid or body of the case for carrying garments to be folded into three bymeans of a crossbar or like element used for folding into two garmentssupported by the hanger bar in the lower part of the case.

At least one indicating or positioning member may be provided for use inplacing the garmentfolding element in such a position `in relation tothe garment that when moved upwards into the 'body or lid of the case,the garment will be folded therein.

The .garment-folding means may be constituted by a. frame movablyattached to the case and adapted to be extended from it behind theunfolded garment, the free end marginal portion or edge of which frameconstitutes the garmentfolding element which is positioned by the bodyor sides of the frame.

Other forms vof garment-folding means comprising at least one indicatingor positioning member lare described hereinafter.

One embodiment ofthe invention and modiflcations thereof arediagrammatically illustrated by Way of example in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing one form of case according to theinvention, its lid having been removed,

Figure 2 is a. vertical section taken on the line 2--2 in Figure 1, and

Figure-3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 in Figure 1, thelid being shown in broken lines;

Figure 4 shows a crossbar used in the case;

Like reference characters designate like parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawing, the case comprises a body portion I0 that isopen at the front and can be closed by a lid l2, both of which parts maybe made of fabric lined, compressed or vulclosed, enter into metalsockets 25 on the undersurface of the base I4.

Attachment means in the form of a flat metal hanger bar 26, 21 ofU-shape for carrying the hooks 28 of garment hangers 29 is provided inthe lower part of the case close to the bottom thereof. The longer limb25 of this hanger bar lies above the base I4 and has its rear endportion 3B riveted to the rear wall I5, while the shorter limb 2'I liesbelow the limb 25 and is bent sideways towards the wall I6 and isriveted L' to the upper face of the base I4 near its front edge 3 IAlternatively, the hanger bar may have its limbs lying in the samehorizontal plane parallel with the base I4. The closed end 32 of theU-shaped hanger bar is situated outside the t front edge 3l, as shownmost clearly in Figures 2 and 3. The purpose of this arrangement is thatwhen the body portion Ill of the case is sup ported vertically, a `coathanger 29 carrying a suit shall hang vertically below the front edge ofthe base I4 of the case. If desired, the suit can extend flathorizontally in front of the case when about to be folded.

Two supporting members 34, 35 in the form of rails for carrying agarment-folding element constituted by a crossbar or the like aresecured in the upper part of the case close ,to the top wall I8 thereof,but spaced a short distance below the latter and from the adjacent sidewall. Each of these rails has its rear end portion 38 riveted to therear wall I5, and has its front portion bent to form a loop 39 having alaterally bent end `portion 45 riveted to the underside of the top I8close `to its front edge.

As shown in Figures l to 3, a crossbar 35 has its end portions bent toform two crooks 43, each having a hook 44 at its free end. Further, thecentral portion 46 of the bar is cranked downwards so that the weight ofa suit hanging over the bar will be carried principally at the sideswhere the bar is higher, the centre of .the suit sagging into the loweror downwardly cranked section. Cranking the bar has the furtheradvantage of strengthening it and allowing a lighter material to beused. When such a crossbar is placed transversely behind the middle of asuit with its crook embracing the sides of the suit which may hangfreely downwards or may be laid out flat horizontally, and the crossbaris then moved upwardly by hand, the suit will be folded i into two bythe crossbar which can then be readily placed on the loops 39 of therails 34, 35 and then slid into the body of the case towards the rearwall I5 thereof. The hooks 44 on the crossbar 36 constitute abutmentsand limit the endwise movement of the crossbar when it is carried by therails. A second, third or subsequent suit of mens clothes can be foldedsimilarly into two each by a separate crossbar and placed into the case.If desired, cross-straps, preferably extensible, may be stretched fromside to side of the case and secured in position across the garmentswhen they have been placed in the case.

In some cases a modified crossbar |35 shown separately in Figure 4 maybe used. This crossbar |35 is square-ended to provide rectilinear limbsI3'I to rest on the rails 34, 35, and has a downwardly-cranked portion|45. If desired, the crossbar 36 or |36 or some other form ofgarment-folding element may have more than one downwardly-crankedportion.

Two pockets 56, 51 may be provided on the base I4, one at each side ofthe hanger bar, if desired, into which hair-brushes, shaving tackle,underwear, or the like may be packed.

Various modifications may be made in the details of constructiondescribed above without departing from the invention.

I claim:

l. A case for the reception of at least one folded garment, comprising alid and an open-fronted body, a hanger bar for supporting the hook of agarment hanger, said hanger bar being disposed adjacent to that wall ofthe body which serves as a base upon which the body may rest with itsopen front vertical and unobstructed during packing, and extendingrearwardly from at least as far forward as substantially the front edgeof said body, the forward section of said bar being so fashioned withrespect to the front edge of said body so that a garment hanger may hangdownwardly outside said body when said lid is in an unobstructingposition and when said body is rested on the edge of a support, and sothat the garment hanger may thereafter be turned around and slid backinto said body, said downward part of the hanger being adapted tosupport a garment outside said body in a freely downward extendingposition, and a .garment-folding element adapted to be manually movedupwards from a lower position behind the middle of said freely hanginggarment so situated outside said case to an upper position to bring saidgarment and garment hanger into a packing position within said openfront body in which said garment extends upwardly from saidgarment-hanger, over said garment-folding element, and then downwardlyupon itself, and lmeans in the upper portion of said body detachablyengageable with said garment-folding element for holding the same inplace.

2. A case according to claim l, wherein said hanger bar has one endprojecting beyond the front edge of said body, said end being ofJ-shape, and one limb of said J being directly above the other.

3. A case according to claim l, said means in the upper portion of saidbody comprising rails parallel to the wall opposite that wall whichserves as a base when said case is being packed, said rails extending inthe form of horizontal loops beyond `the front edge of said portion ofsaid body.

ERNEST NORBERT KENNEDY.

